Alfred Neuland (Estonia)
Olympic champion Alfred Neuland (1895-1966) of Valga, Estonia was definitely one of the landmark athletes in the history of modern Olympic weighting.
Neuland was a pioneer of the snatcn/clean squat style technique and was perhaps one of the first who introduced the hook grip of the bar.
He competed at two Summer Olympics. In 1920 we became an Olympic champion in the lightweight class in Antwerp, Belgium and, in 1924, he won a silver medal in the middleweight in Paris, France.
In 1922 he won a World title at home in Tallinn, Estonia.
Alfred Neuland held three world records – in the snatch (1) and in the clean-and jerk (2).
On the cover photo, lightweight Alfred Neuland is on his way to the Olympic gold in Antwerp in 1920.